Monthly Traffic Safety Analysis

33 CRASHES IN
WALPOLE, MA
MARCH 2024

All metrics benchmarked againstMarch 2023

In March 2024, Walpole experienced 33 crashes, a 32% increase from the 25 crashes reported in March 2023. Despite the rise in total crashes, the number of total injuries saw a notable decrease, falling by 50% from 10 injuries in March 2023 to 5 injuries in March 2024.

33

32.0%was 25

Total Crash Events

0

Persons Killed

5

-50.0%was 10

Persons Injured

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes

Note: "Persons Killed" (0) counts individual fatalities across all crash events. "Fatal" in the severity table below (0) counts crash events where at least one fatality occurred. A single crash can result in multiple fatalities. 1 crash with unreported severity is not shown in the severity breakdown.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Aggregate counts from crash, person, and vehicle records

Trend Summary

Overall, total crashes in Walpole increased year-over-year, rising by 32% from 25 crashes in March 2023 to 33 crashes in March 2024. Conversely, total injuries decreased by 50%, from 10 injuries to 5 injuries over the same period, while fatalities remained at zero.

2

Hit-and-Run Crashes — March 2024

0.0% vs prior (2)

The number of hit-and-run crashes remained constant at 2 in both March 2023 and March 2024. However, as total crashes increased, the hit-and-run rate decreased from 8% in the prior period to 6.1% in the current period, indicating a downward trend in their proportion of all crashes.

Vulnerable Road User Casualties

0

Motorists Killed

Prior: 00.0%

5

Motorists Injured

Prior: 9-44.4%

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Mode classified from person records (driver/passenger → motorist; pedestrian; bicyclist → cyclist; in-line skater / unspecified → other)

When Crashes Happen

The temporal distribution of crashes shifted year-over-year, with the peak day moving from Wednesday in March 2023 (8 crashes) to Friday in March 2024 (8 crashes). Similarly, the peak crash hour changed from 7 AM (5 crashes) in March 2023 to 2 PM (4 crashes) in March 2024, indicating a shift from morning commute to afternoon hours for peak crash occurrences.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash date field aggregated by weekday

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Crash time field aggregated by hour (0-23)

Crash Severity Breakdown

Fatalities and fatal crashes remained at zero in both March 2023 and March 2024. Total injuries decreased by 50%, from 10 in the prior period to 5 in the current period. Notably, serious injury crashes, which accounted for 2 crashes (8%) in March 2023, were not reported in March 2024, while minor injury crashes decreased from 4 (16%) to 2 (6.1%).

Outcome by Severity (Crash Events)

Minor Injury2minor injury crashes6.1%
-50.0%prior 4
Possible Injury3possible injury crashes9.1%
50.0%prior 2
No Injury27no injury crashes81.8%
58.8%prior 17

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · KABCO injury classification scale

Severity Distribution (Crash Events)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Most severe injury per crash record

Top Contributing Factors

The leading contributing factor, 'No improper driving,' increased from 7 crashes in March 2023 to 12 crashes in March 2024. Crashes attributed to 'Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings' saw a rise from 1 to 3, while 'Followed too closely' decreased from 3 to 2. Factors such as 'Inattention' and 'Failed to yield right of way' remained consistent at 2 crashes each in both periods.

Officer-Reported Primary Contributing Cause

No improper driving12 (36.4%)71.4%prior 7
Failure to keep in proper lane or running off road5 (15.2%)
Disregarded traffic signs, signals, road markings3 (9.1%)
Inattention2 (6.1%)
Failed to yield right of way2 (6.1%)
Followed too closely2 (6.1%)
Swerving or avoiding due to wind, slippery surface, vehicle, object, vulnerable user in roadway2 (6.1%)
Made an improper turn1 (3%)
Distracted1 (3%)
Physical impairment1 (3%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Officer-reported primary contributory cause per crash

Road & Environmental Conditions

Crashes occurring in clear weather increased from 19 in March 2023 to 23 in March 2024, and rain-related crashes doubled from 2 to 4. There was a notable increase in crashes during 'Dark - lighted roadway' conditions, rising from 4 to 11, while dry road crashes increased from 20 to 27. Ice-related crashes, present in March 2023, were not reported in March 2024.

Weather

Clear23 (69.7%)
21.1%prior 19
Rain4 (12.1%)
Clear/Cloudy3 (9.1%)
Cloudy/Rain2 (6.1%)
Cloudy1 (3.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Weather condition at time of crash

Lighting

Daylight20 (60.6%)
11.1%prior 18
Dark - lighted roadway11 (33.3%)
Dark - roadway not lighted1 (3.0%)
Dusk1 (3.0%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Lighting condition field

Road Surface

Dry27 (81.8%)
35.0%prior 20
Wet6 (18.2%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Road surface condition field

Vehicles & Demographics

Top Vehicle Makes (58 vehicles)

1
TOYOTA14 (24.1%)
133.3%prior 6
2
FORD7 (12.1%)
-12.5%prior 8
3
NISSAN3 (5.2%)
4
RAM2 (3.4%)
5
SUBARU2 (3.4%)
6
HONDA2 (3.4%)
7
VOLKSWAGEN2 (3.4%)
8
CHEVROLET2 (3.4%)
9
AUDI2 (3.4%)
10
KIA2 (3.4%)

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Vehicle unit records

4 persons with unknown or unrecorded age excluded from age chart.

Sex Distribution (78 persons with recorded sex)

Male40 (51.3%)
150.0%prior 16
Female38 (48.7%)
5.6%prior 36

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Person-level records linked to crash events

Speed Limit Zones

Crashes in 30 mph zones increased from 11 in March 2023 to 14 in March 2024, and those in 35 mph zones saw a notable rise from 2 to 6. Crashes in 45 mph zones also increased from 3 to 5, and 55 mph zones from 1 to 2. Crashes in 10 mph and 15 mph zones, reported in March 2023, were not present in March 2024.

Source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV) · Arcgis_yearly Open Data · 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31 · Posted speed limit at crash location

Data Sources & Methodology

Primary Data Source

All crash data in this report is sourced from Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), accessed programmatically via the Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SODA). This dataset contains official police-reported motor vehicle traffic crash records maintained by the reporting jurisdiction's law enforcement agency. Records are published to the open data portal by the municipality and are subject to the portal's terms of use.

Data Retrieval

  • Access method: Arcgis_yearly Open Data API (SoQL queries)
  • Data format: Structured JSON via REST API
  • Record types queried: Crash events, person records, and vehicle unit records
  • Date filter applied: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31
  • Report generated: June 21, 2026

Data Coverage

  • Reporting period: 2024-03-01 through 2024-03-31 (31 days)
  • Geographic scope: WALPOLE, MA
  • Total crash records analyzed: 33
  • Total persons involved: 82
  • Total vehicles involved: 58

Analytical Methodology

  • Severity classification: Uses the KABCO injury scale (K=Fatal, A=Incapacitating injury, B=Non-incapacitating injury, C=Possible injury, O=No injury/property damage only), the standard classification in U.S. Model Minimum Uniform Crash Criteria (MMUCC). Severity is assigned per crash event based on the most severe injury in that crash. A single fatal crash (K) may involve multiple fatalities; therefore the "Persons Killed" count in the headline KPIs may differ from the "Fatal" crash count in the severity breakdown.
  • Contributing factors: Reflect the officer-determined primary contributory cause recorded at the time of the crash report. These are preliminary determinations and may not reflect final investigation findings.
  • Hit-and-run classification: Based on the hit-and-run indicator field in the official crash report, as determined by the responding officer at the scene.
  • Temporal analysis: Day-of-week and hour-of-day distributions are computed from the crash date/time timestamp in each record.
  • Demographics: Age and sex distributions are drawn from person-level records linked to each crash event. A single crash may involve multiple persons.
  • Vehicle data: Make information is drawn from vehicle unit records linked to each crash event.
  • AI commentary: Narrative sections are generated by Google Gemini (large language model) based on the structured data. Commentary is descriptive, not predictive, and should not be interpreted as expert opinion.

Limitations & Disclaimers

  • Only crashes reported to and documented by law enforcement are included. Minor incidents, unreported crashes, and near-misses are not captured in this dataset.
  • Data reflects conditions at the time of the initial police report and may be subject to subsequent corrections, reclassifications, or supplements by the reporting agency.
  • Open data portal records may experience a publication lag - recently occurring crashes may not yet appear in the dataset at the time of report generation.
  • AI-generated commentary is produced by a large language model and is intended to highlight patterns in the data. It does not constitute legal, medical, or professional analysis.
  • Percentages are calculated from reported data and are subject to rounding.

Non-Affiliation Disclosure

This report is produced independently by ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or produced in partnership with any law enforcement agency, municipal government, state department of transportation, or the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Data is sourced from publicly available government open data portals.

Data License

The underlying crash data is provided under the municipality's Open Data Terms of Use and is made available to the public for unrestricted use. This analysis and report is © 2026 Injuria.ai and may be cited with attribution using the suggested citation below.

Corrections & Feedback

If you believe any data in this report is inaccurate or have questions about our methodology, please contact: data@injuria.ai. We are committed to accuracy and will issue corrections promptly.

Suggested Citation

ThatCarHitMe.com (Injuria.ai). "WALPOLE, MA Crash Intelligence Report: March 2024." Published June 21, 2026. Reporting period: 2024-03-01 to 2024-03-31. Data source: Massachusetts Crash Data (MassDOT CDV), Arcgis_yearly Open Data. Available at: https://thatcarhitme.com/crash-data/massachusetts/walpole/march-2024-report

About the Publisher

ThatCarHitMe.com is a crash data intelligence platform developed by Injuria.ai, a legal technology company specializing in traffic safety analytics. We aggregate and analyze publicly available government crash data to produce structured intelligence reports for communities, researchers, journalists, and legal professionals. Our reports combine programmatic data retrieval from official open data portals with AI-assisted narrative analysis.

Questions about this report's data or methodology: data@injuria.ai

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Walpole, MA Crash Report — March 2024 | ThatCarHitMe.com